On November 19, 2024, the Houston Regional Group and Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club (Sierra Club) visited the project/treatment areas in Compartment 101, for the proposed U.S. Forest Service (FS) Butch Arthur Project (BAP) in Sam Houston National Forest (SHNF).
The Sierra Club walked through Stand 5, which had recently been thinned and where a log landing was located to get to a stream (tributary to the East Fork of the San Jacinto River) that flowed east to west through Stand 6. The Sierra Club walked this stream and its lower slope.
As the stream goes west, it grows larger and begins to flow, probably due to seepage from sandy uplands with impermeable clay layers underneath. The Sierra Club walked along most of the length of this stream. Some of the vegetation that the Sierra Club saw along this stream included:
White Oak, Red Maple, Red Mulberry, White Ash, Yaupon Holly, American Beautyberry, American Holly, Flowering Dogwood, Red Bay, Sweetgum, Cherry Laurel, Water Oak, Maple-leaf Viburnum, large Loblolly and Shortleaf Pines (widely spaced between hardwoods), Resurrection Fern, Sweetbay Magnolia, Tall Inkberry Holly (Gallberry Holly), Eastern Hophornbeam, Southern Magnolia, Lady Fern, Netted Chain Fern, Mockernut Hickory, blueberry species, Black Gum, Cinnamon Fern, Christmas Fern, Southern Wax Myrtle, and Lizard’s-tail.
The largest trees measured included a 20.06 inch diameter breast height (DBH) Black Gum, Loblolly Pines that were 28.66 and 38.22 inches DBH, Southern Magnolias that were 26.75 and 27.39 inches DBH.
There were several smaller streams that flowed into the stream the Sierra Club fwalked and there was baygall vegetation (Sweetbay Magnolia and Tall Inkberry Holly) along most of the length of the stream.
These baygalls are streamside wooded/shrub bog-type habitat that should be protected. Most of the soils are sandy as shown via the white sand bottoms that were found in all streams. The lower slopes on both sides of the stream were steep and had much hardwood vegetation including many trees. Some of the mesic vegetation that grew near the stream and or 50-100 feet away included:
American Holly, Southern Magnolia, White Oak, Sweetgum, Sweetbay Magnolia, Red Maple, Red Bay, Cherry Laurel, Water Oak, Tall Inkberry Holly, Eastern Hophornbeam, Black Gum, Cinnamon Fern, Christmas Fern, and Lady Fern.
The Sierra Club also visited Stands 2 and 3 on the north end of Compartment 101. Both stands have many hardwood trees and scattered large pine trees. There were also many Southern Magnolia trees in both stands.
Stand 3 is considered a streamside management zone, since it has at least three streams. Some of the vegetation seen in Stand 3 included:
Red Bay, White Ash, White Oak, Southern Red Oak, Sweetgum, Southern Magnolia, American Hornbeam, Resurrection Fern, Sweetleaf, large Shortleaf and Loblolly Pines, Arrowwood Viburnum, Sebastian Bush, American Holly, blueberry species, and Switch Cane. The Sierra Club measured a Southern Magnolia that was 25.48 inches DBH in Stand 3.
The Sierra Club incorporated the information collected into its scoping comments for the proposed Butch Arthur Project and submitted these comments to the FS on November 22, 2024. The Sierra Club will continue to talk with the FS about the management of Compartment 101 and the proposed Butch Arthur Project.